1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a support structure that supports a water-cooled internal combustion engine, in which a thermo-valve case that accommodates a thermo-valve is provided on a cylinder head, on a body frame.
2. Background Art
A water-cooled internal combustion engine including a thermo-valve case that accommodates a thermo-valve is disclosed in JP-A No. 2010-236484 (FIGS. 2 through 4), for example. The thermo-valve case is integrally molded with a cylinder head such that a part of the rear end of the cylinder head protrudes outward.
However, in the case of the structure illustrated in JP-A No. 2010-236484, if the size of the thermo-valve is increased in order to improve the cooling performance along with an increase in the number of cylinders or an increase in the engine displacement, the size of the thermo-valve case accommodating the thermo-valve is increased, so that the protrusion from the cylinder head becomes greater. This might reduce the rigidity of the area around the thermo-valve case.